Crockpot Ropa Vieja - Latin Style Beef

A Latin-styled braised beef, ropa vieja literally translates to "old clothes" earning that name because the meat is so tender that it literally shreds into what might look like a pile of rags!

The original recipe for this is from the January 2009 Good Housekeeping magazine, and called for 3-1/2 pounds of flank steak. I had just under 2 pounds of some flat iron steaks in my freezer that I needed to use up, so I substituted those and adjusted some of the ingredients. Flat iron is a cut of chuck so I thought it might benefit from the slow cooking, and it certainly did.

Thanks to the jalapenos, there is a good healthy kick to this dish that sort of jolts awake the senses, but not so much that you can't taste the food through the burn. To me it's just right, but if you don't like spicy, you would want to omit those. The blend of veggies is perfect together and the meat is so tender and delicious - and the best part is that the slow cooker does all the work! Even hubs who is no veggie eater kept an open mind and ate this dish only leaving behind a few red peppers and jalapeno slices.

I served this dish with both flour and corn tortillas - I think I liked the flour tortillas best. Just warm in batches of 4 to 6 tortillas placed between 2 damp paper towels and microwaved for 30 to 45 seconds. Wrap in a towel to keep warm until time to serve.

Be warned - this is a sloppy dish. You might find yourself with drippings on your face, and running down your arm and have an uncontrollable desire to run your filled tortillas through the juices to sop up even more. My kinda sloppy.

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Crockpot Ropa Vieja
From the Kitchen of Deep South Dish

1/2 cup of drained sliced jalapeno
Handful of sliced red bell pepper
Handful of sliced green bell pepper
2 cloves of garlic, sliced thin
1/2 of a large onion, sliced
1/2 teaspoon cumin
1/4 teaspoon of oregano
1 bay leaf
1 teaspoon salt
2 to 3 pounds of flank or flat iron steak
1 (14.5) can of sliced stewed tomatoes
Corn or flour tortillas, warmed

In crockpot add the jalapeno, red and green bell pepper, garlic, onion, cumin, oregano, bay leaf and salt. Stir well. Lay the flat iron steaks on top and pour tomatoes over top. Do not stir. Cook on low for 9 hours.

Remove meat and vegetables from crockpot to a bowl using a slotted spoon, discarding the bay leaf. Remove and shred steak into thin strips, place back into the bowl with the vegetables. Skim off any fat from the remaining liquid in the crockpot and stir the liquid from the crockpot into the meat and veggie mixture. Spoon into individual serving bowls and serve with warmed tortillas.

Source: http://deepsouthdish.com

Adapted from a Good Housekeeping magazine recipe, January 2009

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I'm linking this up to Make Ahead Meals for Busy Moms - Slow Cooker Recipes.

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